Tatsuki Kohatsu

I was born and raised in Okinawa. I earned my BA from the University of the Ryukyus and my MA and PhD from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. My research approaches geopolitics, militarism, and war through ethnographic, archival, and storytelling methods. It foregrounds the experiences and livelihoods of people in places often considered marginal, such as islands, seas, and borders. Central to my work is the critical and decolonial scholarship to unravel the conditions of life under militarization and the impacts of militarism and war, alongside community members whose thought and praxis bring into question the coloniality of making and understanding global politics and places.

My current work focuses on Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean, where the large military presence shapes the everyday landscapes and experiences. My publications include examinations of how militarization and geopolitics in the region depend on islands, and of the negative impacts of these geopolitical maneuvers on communities' health, livelihoods, and environment. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oulu, I am a member of a project in the Geography Research Unit that examines militarization and bordering through the lens of indigeneity, with a focus on Sápmi and Okinawa.